We have a winner!

Congrats to Jacob for being the first North Dakotan visitor and winner of my North Dakota contest! Although, he's not a knitter, he still gets a prize—a lovely hand-knit scarf, which I will make one of these days. Special thanks and shout-out to Kate and Barbs, who facilitated all this! Turns out my North Dakotan visitor is my friend's mom's friend's friend's son—I think, whew! And in honor of this joyous day, here are a few of my favorite photos from my days as a prairie princess, aka North Dakota resident:

Where's the love, NoDak?

I've been doing some research over at Google Analytics, which tracks my blog stats, and I've come to a disturbing realization. I've had visitors from all 50 states except North Dakota! "Why is this so disturbing?" you might ask. It's disturbing because North Dakota may very well be one of my favorite places on the planet. Before relocating to subtropical paradise and more recently to the east coast, I spent a summer in Grand Forks, N.D., and loved every minute. I spent long weekends traipsing across the prairie, soaking in the Big Sky and marveling at the windswept plains. I saw my first buffalo in North Dakota. I did my first solo travel in North Dakota. I saw my first hockey game in North Dakota. But perhaps most importantly for this blog, I learned to KNIT in North Dakota! That's right, my first foray into needles and yarn came during my time in the Peace Garden State. (The Peace Garden reminds me of a time when border patrol accused of smuggling rocks into the country — incidentally not the only time that's happened, but that's a different story...)

Maybe it was the post-college I'm-an-adult-now depression or the loneliness factor of living a thousand miles from anyone I knew. Or perhaps just the need to find an activity to fill the endless summer afternoons — it literally never got dark until 11 p.m.! Whatever the case, something about North Dakota inspired me to learn a new craft. The fruit of that effort turned out to be a really crappy acrylic scarf that I've never worn and never will. (Seriously, it's so embarrassing, I don't even include it on Ravelry.) Nonetheless, North Dakota holds a special place in my knitting heart.

And this is the reason why I'm so upset that no North Dakotans are reading my blog. I know you knit; I've seen you! I know you have computers — and Internet; I've used it! So where are you Bismarck? Minot? Rugby, the geographic center of the continent? Uff da!

For that reason, I'm going to hold a little contest. The first North Dakotan to read my blog and respond with a comment gets a prize! I'm thinking the prize will be some awesome cotton fingering weight yarn I got at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival last weekend, but I'll have to check my stash later to be sure. Maybe the North Dakotan knitters would appreciate something warmer. I'll post some pictures of the fabulous prize later this weekend to entice all you North Dakotan readers. And be sure to leave your email address when you comment so I can get in touch with you. Blogger doesn't provide it automatically.

Back in black

Sorry for the dearth of new posts, folks. It's been a crazy couple of months for me (for instance, I no longer live in subtropical paradise!) But that's all for another post.

Today, I'm linking to a great blog contest over at One Scheme of Happiness about summer reading ideas—and y'all know how I love my books!